Sunday, December 24, 2006

Some new thoughts on raising kids

Human beings have been raising kids forever. There are oceans of words on the subject. Mountains of theories. Even comic strips. You can pay to have child rearing advice, or get an earful of the unpaid kind every time the in-laws come over. But are there any final conclusions?

When you Google the topic, you'll be overwhelmed with pages to peruse. A search in Yahoo will yield thousand to books on the topic. There is certainly no shortage of perspectives out there. Still, it seems no matter what you do, sooner or later, some expert will pop up out of the blue and declare with absolute certainty that you did everything wrong.

But if we're finalizing the mapping of the human psyche here at the International Society of Integral Psychoanalysis in Brazil, we must be able to draw some more definitive conclusions.

Selma Genzani is a psychoanalyst at Dr. Keppe's Integral Psychoanalysis clinic in São Paulo. She sees a wide range of clients, including many children and their parents. She has a lot of great, and different from the usual, thoughts on raising kids.

Oh, and one more thing ... she's a parent, too. The combination makes for a very interesting program today on Thinking With Somebody Else's Head.

Click here to listen to this episode.
Click here to learn more about Podcasts.

Tags:

Friday, December 15, 2006

Some thoughts on freedom

The greatest revolutions in human history have all had one over-riding objective in mind: freedom. Of expression. Of religion. Freedom from tyranny or injustice.

Personal freedom is something many of us take for granted. Others dream and scheme and protest because freedom's been denied them. Is there anything left to be said about freedom?

Actually, yes. Today on Thinking With Somebody Else's Head, we'll take a crack at discussing freedom in a new way.

Dante Alighieri, like all of humanity's greatest artists, had a number of things to say on the subject. He weighed in rather definitively, actually, with his observations that mankind is at its best when it's most free.

Adam Smith believed that if you just left people to do whatever they wanted they would rather miraculously do beneficial things.

That all sounds pretty conclusive.

But Shakespeare was a little more cautious: the wise man knows himself to be a fool, he cautioned.

And the great fathers of psychopathology in the twentieth century saw some murky stuff down in our psyches that gave them pause as well before declaring that human beings always do what's right when they have the freedom.

Is it possible that this much sought after condition called freedom hasn't been considered as much as it should have?

Let's find out. Join us for the discussion.

Click here to listen to this episode.
Click here to listen to the episode in Finnish.
Click here to read the transcript.
Click here to learn more about Podcasts.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Understanding Psychosomatics

After all the research and new ideas emerging in the area of health and wellness, it's safe to say we haven't fully understand the impact of our psychology on our health. Until now. The cutting edge research emerging out of the International Society of Analytical Trilogy in Brazil is giving us a much clearer roadmap to this admittedly tricky area.

In a nutshell, we are what we don't know about ourselves. What's flying below our conscious radar has much more influence on every area of our personal lives and society that we've understood. As we've been exploring in our programs.

Let's take a step towards understanding the psychosomatic mechanism a little better today. My guest is Swedish journalist, Helena Melander. And I promise you will find the discussion intriguing, provocative ... and helpful.

Click here to listen to this episode.
Click here to learn more about Podcasts.

Tags:

Friday, December 01, 2006

Getting a handle on depression

The latest studies on depression tell us that the chemicals in our brains have gotten all screwed up, or that we've inherited the damn thing, or that we're burned or stressed out, or that some life trauma is affecting us. But as we're discussing regularly on Thinking With Somebody Else's Head, the standard view on just about everything needs to be re-considered. Depression is no exception.

Today, we go beyond the usual to look at the real causes, and cures, of depression. My guest once again is Dr. Claudia Bernhardt Pacheco, vice-president of the International Society of Analytical Trilogy in São Paulo, Brazil, and one of the pioneers in the area of psycho-somatic disease. You'll find her perspective refreshing, provocative ... and, not unimportantly, hopeful.

Click here to listen to this episode.
Click here to learn more about Podcasts.